Monday, September 26, 2005

The Big Move.................

I don't even know where to begin. this house needed a ton of work. and I'm not talking "hey-i'm-feeling-spoiled-i'd-like-new-curtains-and-carpet" stuff. I'm talking wires hanging out, holes, though small they're still holes in walls, rooms with NO LIGHTS in them, nasty stinky carpet with even nastier flooring underneath in the kitchen that perpetually stinks like dog pee so mine are always peeing in there too......................(let me know when ya wanna come for supper,,,,,,hee hee hee.) Checked under some areas of the carpet in the living room and dining room and it was BEAUTIFUL hardwood floor underneath. Okay, so we'll just sand it and refinish it. It will be LOTS cheaper than carpet and very beautiful. Off to Menards for stain, varnish, the "how to" video and all the stuff in between. Started to pull up the carpet and we were pretty excited......until we got to a plywood patch, and another and another............okay. plan b. this room will have carpet, let's look at the next. beautiful wood floor, until we got to the spot where either someone died there or the water damage was so extensive and sat for so long it just rotted the wood. But the way it smelled when Day started to pull up the wood, I'm pretty sure there is a mobster buried under there..............Back to Menards to RETURN the stain, etc etc. Let's just buy plywood and some floor paint. Okey dokey. so Day laid a sub floor of plywood and I painted it and we put 2 area carpets down for now til we have money for carpet. good thing though, because poor blind Obie is so confused here he doesn't know how to"ask" to go out, so he just pisses wherever he is sometimes. At least the carpets were only $27 each...The back door is too big for the hole it's in, so you have to literally throw yourself up against it to get in or out. And thats where I let the dogs out into the back yard to pee when they ain't a'peein in the house. I know...nice..... The little back porch is a horrific mixture of "what-the-hell-is-on-this-floor" ick stuff that your feet stick to and chipping paint that would probably ignite the lead meter on the shuttle. Some of the windows are painted shut and the ones that aren't are cracked with rotted casings and busted pullies But hey, that old woodwork around them looks really cool. since we've been here, we have had many bizzarre little mishaps. About the second or third night here, I was up in the bedroom rocking Annalynn to sleep. Day, the king of noise makers, is downstairs looking for the drain opener because none of the drains actually drain and sitting in the tub with half clean water and half your early morning shower water is just gross.... He is in the dark, because there are no lights in the kitchen, and all of a sudden I hear CRASH BAM CRASH.....what the hell is this guy DOING down there??? I see him hobble up the stairs and stick his foot in the sink. he bashed a toe into the dog cage, broke the nail up off the bed, when he threw his other foot out to catch himself, he bashed his other toe, and as he fell over the top of the dog cage, he caught his arm on the table and then fell over the whole heap and banged up both knees. Imagine seeing Day doing this.................IN THE NUDE!!! Hahaha. (He'll whip me if he reads this....) There is a lot to do still and it'shard to do some of this with annalynn around, so I work while she sleeps. Day is gone now for a week of training in Dayton then will be home next weekend and then gone another week. THEN he might be able to take a few days off and get some stuff done. I tried my hand at painting last night. uh, I just need to stick to cakes. It was like the 3 stooges, but with 2 on vacation. I leaned over the dog gate to throw something away, and had a little container of paint in my hand. when I leaned over, I tipped the paint and spilled it all over the beautiful kitchen carpet. THAT just breaks my heart... then I was moving my little stepstool and carrying the paint tray at the same time....yeah, you guessed it....spilled about half of that on the living room floor. But see, the cool thing with this wonderful Dutch Boy floor paint I bought is that when you clean up whatever you spill on it, the floor paint comes off too. I just SUCK at painting. still graceful after all these years. hahaha. But Hey, I have gas and electric now, $1,268.25 later.................and my house payment is smaller and I don't have a garbage bill now and my water bill will be about half of what it was with LAC. Now we can finally buy that second car.....And Now we can finally have some money to go out once in awhile.................that or pay off the Menards bill. I think I'll buy some stock there. But when this place is done, it is going to be SOOo cool. My mom took "before" pictures and I'm going to do some after pics and will post them as we go. And oh, I've lost 3 or 4 pounds since we got here. Wanna lose weight? Buy a house with the only bathroom up the stairs and use a dorm size fridge. You'll eat less and work out more. Later mateys. Gotta get some sleep. zzzzzzzzzzzz

Friday, September 02, 2005

This is only a test.....

.........and I flunked it.......again. Monday, I was supposed to meet the NIPSCO guy at the new place. He was to call a half hour before he'd be on site as it takes me a half hour to get there. He calls me and says, "I'm at 366 Hawthorne." I said. "Oh, well, I'm in Valparaiso." I explained that I was told he'd call a half hour before I was to be there. He said he had a couple quick things to do and then he'd come back. It would be about a half hour. "Great," I said, "It will take me a half hour to get there...I'm walking out the door." Well, I get there, he's not there. Okay, I unload the boxes I had in my van, and sat for awhile. He still didn't show. I go in the house and notice there is a light on in one of the closets. Oh, He's been here already. Guess he didn't need me after all. Okay. So I sat in the car just a bit longer "just in case." Then I leave. Day goes back the next day and tries to light the water heater. It does not work. Okay, so they didn't turn the gas on. I call yesterday. "Can I get someone to turn the gas on tomorrow?" See, it's the weekend now, and a holiday Monday and we're moving in over the weekend so our renters can move in here. "Sure ma'am. We can reschedule you for tomorrow. But you know that will be a $40 charge." I ask why. She said, "Because he was there once before and you were not." Okay. Hmmmm..........doesn't seem quite fair, but they're NIPSCO and they are the only option. So although I argue a bit and let her know it was not my fault he didn't call ahead and then didn't show up when he said he was gonna, and I don't feel I should have to pay for him again, she tells me there is nothing they can do about that. It's their policy. SO, I ask her if he will call again a half hour before going as it TAKES ME A HALF HOUR TO GET THERE. I explained this a few times just to get it through her head. She said the work would be completed some time between 8 and noon. Okay. SO I get up early and get ready. at 11:30, Annalynn is BANGING ON THE BEDROOM DOOR because she wants a nap. I thought "sure as shit, the minute I get her down, they'll call." But then I realize it's now 20 til 12. So I call. "Oh, he's been busy. He is finishing up a call and then is on his way to your place." Okay, were you gonna call and tell me that? Now at this point, I realize I have LOST MY KEY. so NOW I have to stop at my mom's and pick up a key before I go. So I tell the lady, it will take me 20 minutes to get to where I need to go and then 30 minutes from there. No problem, they will call my mom's. I give her the number, she reads it back and off I go. I drive 70 mph to my mom's, she is waiting in the driveway with a key. THey have not called yet. Good, then I know I will make it in time as he is still going to call. WELL, I get there, unload my boxes and wait an HOUR. I got a bad feeling 'bout this..........So I go to the neighbor's house to use the phone. The man I talk to says "Sorry ma'am. It says he was there already today and waited 20 minutes and you never showed." I went through the whole spiel again NO WAY WAS THIS GUY HERE WHEN HE SAID HE WAS. "sorry, we'll have to reschedule you. the soonest we can get someone there is Tuesday." I asked, "will I have to pay another $40 charge?" YEP. So at this point, I am so FREAKING mad. I am bawling all the way home. I feel taken advantage of and lied to and so pissed off. To make this long story barely shorter, too bad, so sad, sucks to be you. He said they called my mom's. I get home and call her. Nope, they never called. So I check my messages, the lady said "we tried the 733-----number, and it does not work. OUr guy is on his way over. (hello, I told you I would not be here.......) well the number she read off was WRONG. So I call NIPSCO and ask to speak to a supervisor......there is no one available. they will call you. you can imagine how this will turn out Tuesday. anybody wanna place a bet???